Phantom Realm

Xia Lun had a vague feeling that he had forgotten something very important.

It was an indescribable sense of absence, as though a small piece had been silently gouged out of his chest. It didn’t hurt, yet the hollow space seemed to let in a cold draft.

He furrowed his brow, his fingertips unconsciously brushing over the rounded hilt of his sword.

What could it be? Some promise? Or perhaps words left unfinished? …Or something else?

His memories were like a waterlogged parchment, the ink bleeding until nothing remained but a vague, shadowy blur.

“Hey! Xia Lun, what are you spacing out for?”

Liyana gave Xia Lun’s shoulder a heavy slap and leaned over with a huge smile.

Under the sunlight streaming through the carriage window, her emerald eyes gleamed like two cat’s-eye gemstones rippling with light. A few strands of her long golden hair refused to behave, bobbing gently with the carriage’s jolts. Her exquisite cheeks looked like the most perfect masterpiece ever created by the gods.

Had Liyana always been this beautiful? Xia Lun wondered.

He seemed never to notice it usually, because his attention was always on…

No. What was he thinking?

“Captain Xia Lun, we should be on our way,” Moke said with a chuckle from the opposite seat, where he was lounging against a blanket. He deftly toyed with the obsidian dagger in his hand.

Forget it. If he couldn’t remember, then it probably wasn’t anything important.

Perhaps it was merely a trace of last night’s dream that had yet to fade. Xia Lun told himself this, trying to force down the strange feeling in his chest.

He looked up at the sky outside the window. It was a clear, nearly transparent blue, with a few sparse clouds hanging across it like tufts of cotton pulled from an old pillow. The sunlight was bright without being harsh, making it a pleasant, flawless day for a long journey.

“All right. Let’s get moving.”

At Xia Lun’s command, Musen raised the whip in his hand.

The Wings of Dawn had once again embarked on a new journey.

“Xia Lun, Moke is already with Little Rabbit, and you’re not getting any younger either. Have you really never considered settling down?”

As usual, Liyana sidled up beside Xia Lun and chattered incessantly.

It wasn’t appropriate to bother Moke now. He was already a married man.

“Ahem. I think I’m still pretty young.” Xia Lun rubbed his nose. He hadn’t expected Liyana to start pressuring him to get married.

“What about Miss An Koula? She’s beautiful, kindhearted, the daughter of the city lord, and her family is loaded… She even likes you so much that she was willing to confess her feelings to you in front of everyone! You can’t possibly turn her down!” Liyana suggested, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “If a girl that wonderful liked me, I definitely wouldn’t go fooling around with anyone else!”

“Heh. That remains to be seen.” Moke gave an unimpressed snort. Teasing Liyana was one of the few pleasures he had left. “Do you really think you could settle down?”

“Shut up, Moke. I’m talking about Xia Lun, so stop interrupting.” Liyana glared at Moke with an expression of utmost seriousness.

Since the matter involved Xia Lun… Moke pursed his lips and turned his head away. Surprisingly, he didn’t retort.

Xia Lun unconsciously reached toward the space beside him, as though he wanted to take someone’s hand, but his fingers met nothing.

A sudden, inexplicable flutter seized his heart.

It was as if something warm should have been there, yet all that remained was cold emptiness.

“What’s wrong? You’ve seemed a little strange today, Xia Lun.” Liyana couldn’t help reaching out to feel his forehead. “Don’t tell me you’ve caught a cold?”

“No… It’s nothing.” Xia Lun shook his head. Not wanting to worry his companions, he forcefully suppressed the discomfort inside him. “I just have the feeling that I’ve forgotten something.”

“Could it be senility?” Liyana asked in alarm.

“Xia Lun is only in his twenties!” Moke snapped back on Xia Lun’s behalf.

Liyana turned to Moke. “When do humans become old?”

“Sixty or seventy, at the very least,” Moke replied after giving it some thought.

“That’s not so different from their twenties or thirties!” Liyana said with complete seriousness, swaying her long, pointed ears. “I think this might be senility… Moke, are you becoming senile too?”

“Shut up, you stupid elf,” Moke grumbled.

Liyana suddenly asked, “Then, Moke, answer me this: Can you remember what you ate for lunch three days ago?”

Moke’s eyes went wide. “How the hell would I know? Who remembers something like that?”

Liyana nodded thoughtfully. “See! I was right! I suspect you’re already showing signs of senility too…”

“Damn it…”

Moke finally lost his patience, rolled up his sleeves, and tackled her. The two of them immediately began wrestling.

Perhaps infected by their lively mood, a smile also crept onto Xia Lun’s lips.

Was this the life he had always wanted…?

It should have been. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

Xia Lun looked again at the empty space beside him.

But in his memories, someone should have been there.

Who?

He couldn’t remember.

Xia Lun shook his head hard, suddenly overcome by irritation.

“Danger! Be on guard!”

Musen’s shout came from outside.

Moke and Liyana immediately stopped fooling around. Liyana drew her longbow, while Moke’s dagger flashed with cold light.

Xia Lun also instinctively placed a hand on his sword hilt.

“Raaagh—!”

Blocking their path was a massive ogre. These monsters were ugly, but possessed tremendous strength and size. It was said that whether an adventuring party could defeat an ogre was the dividing line used to judge how powerful it truly was.

Xia Lun drew his longsword and swung it casually. A monster of this rank should have been dealt with effortlessly—

Yet nothing happened.

Xia Lun stared strangely at the sword in his hand.

Where was the sword wind?

“Xia Lun, what are you doing?”

Liyana shot an arrow straight through the ogre’s eye. Moke, moving like a ghost, had already climbed onto its enormous body and stabbed out its other eye. Now blinded, the ogre flailed about furiously, roaring as it swung its arms.

Only then did Xia Lun come to his senses. He rushed forward, leaped high into the air, and slashed downward.

A flash of sword light passed by, and the ogre’s head was severed in a single stroke.

The enormous head struck the ground, sending up a cloud of dust as the thick stench of blood filled the air.

Moke began poking around the ogre’s corpse, prodding here and there as though checking for a magic stone.

“Xia Lun, you’re really not yourself today. What’s going on?” Liyana waved a hand in front of his face. “You’ve never been distracted in the middle of a battle before…”

“Sorry…” Xia Lun sighed softly, then offered her a helpless smile. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”